WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to update instructions provided to Justice Department component agencies that did not appear to comply with the law.
In a recent memorandum to the heads of Justice Department components, Sessions instructed department employees to not communicate with “Senators, Representatives, congressional committees, or congressional staff without advance coordination and consultation with OLA [Office of Legislative Affairs].” While Grassley recognizes the need for coherence, consistency and timeliness of official communications with Congress, the instructions to component heads did not appropriately address the rights of federal employees to make direct protected disclosures to Congress.
“Thus, please review this memorandum and address the deficiencies I have raised as soon as possible with a corrective communication to all employees who received it,” Grassley wrote concluding his letter to Sessions.
Grassley, the cofounder of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus, has long worked to ensure that federal employees who want to shine a light on waste, fraud and abuse in government are sufficiently protected from retaliation. Further, Grassley has maintained that Congress not only has the power but the duty to conduct oversight of the federal government, a process in which whistleblowers can play an essential role. Last June Grassley wrote to the President on this issue, excoriating a Justice Department opinion that instructed federal agencies to limit cooperation with Congressional oversight. Grassley has raised similar concerns during previous administrations about executive branch agencies seeking to limit direct communications between executive branch employees and Congress.
Full text of Grassley’s letter to Sessions
